Wildfire-fighting death toll rises to 3 in Canada
An air tanker drops fire retardant, as new wildfire starts outside Vanderhoof, while out-of-control wildfires burn across the province, British Columbia, Canada, on July 17, 2023.
A helicopter pilot was killed in a crash Wednesday night, the third death in recent days involving wildfire-fighting operations in Canada, local media reported Thursday.
Police confirmed to the media that the pilot, a 41-year-old man who was helping fight fires in northern Alberta, died from injuries he sustained in the crash, despite life-saving efforts by forestry workers who arrived at the site first.
Last week, firefighter Devyn Gale died after a tree fell on her near Revelstoke, British Columbia. Adam Yeadon died Saturday while fighting a wildfire near his home in Fort Liard, the Northwest Territories.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said Thursday that there were 887 active wildfires nationwide and the number of out-of-control wildfires was 549. The number of wildfires in the country so far this year has reached 4,308, devouring about 111,000 square kilometers of land.
